


Purpose

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online, Starshine Legacy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 15:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9078727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: The Soul Riders struggle with their destiny. Takes place between SSL and SSO.





	

Things most certainly did not go back to normal after the Generals were defeated. Alex had expected them to be closer. And they were, but… they were so distant, too. Especially Lisa and Anne. If anything, Lisa seemed depressed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Alex after finding her friend sitting alone in the empty music room. Her red-haired friend held a guitar, but her fingers were still on it.

“I wanted to be a famous musician,” said Lisa. “Have my own band.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Alex. “What happened?”

“I met a sick horse named Starshine,” said Lisa. She didn’t sound regretful, just… sad.

“That doesn’t change anything,” said Alex. “You can still go and do your thing.”

“Can I?” asked Lisa, sounding angry now. “Can I really start my own band when I could be called back at any second?”

“Yes,” said Alex. “The other Soul Riders probably had other jobs, you can too. I’m sure Fripp will call for us when we’re needed.”

“But we don’t know when that will be,” said Lisa. “I have to put my life on hold for some stupid destiny that I didn’t even want! My dad’s all I have left, and our enemies might take him, too!”

“Too?” Alex echoed.

“Mr Sands knew how my mum died, Alex. How did he know that?” asked Lisa.

“The newspaper reports?” Alex guessed.

“Or maybe he killed her,” said Lisa.

“It was a car accident, Lisa. The other driver was at fault, and he wasn’t a General,” said Alex. She wanted to reach out and comfort her friend, but Lisa was pacing the floor, having put her guitar on the table.

“What if he was influencing it somehow?” asked Lisa, raking her fingers through her hair. “And dad’s working at Dark Core, it’d be only too easy for him to get into some horrible accident.”

“Fripp wouldn’t let that happen,” said Alex.

“Wouldn’t he?” asked Lisa, whirling to face her.

“Fine then, I wouldn’t let that happen,” said Alex. “If anything happens, I’ll be there to stop it.”

“Good to see you’ve accepted your destiny,” said Lisa. “Didn’t you have any dreams?”

“I only want to protect my family,” said Alex. “Being a Soul Rider is just an extension of that.”

“Well, it’s all well and good for someone who didn’t have a purpose. I had dreams, I had plans, I wanted to be someone. But not like this,” said Lisa, her eyelashes wet with tears.

Lisa’s words hurt, but Alex knew that she was just angry.

“Keep working towards your dream, then,” said Alex. “Your life doesn’t need to stop just because you’re a Soul Rider.”

“And if our enemies resurface?” asked Lisa.

“I’ll protect your dad when you become famous and tour the world with your band,” said Alex. “I promise.” Lisa hugged her, surprising Alex with the ferocity of it.

“Thank you,” Lisa murmured.

Anne was less depressed and more enraged. Alex found her cornering Lisa at the stables one afternoon.

“This is all your fault,” Anne hissed. “You should never have come here.”

“Hey, don’t blame me,” said Lisa. “If you wanna blame anyone, blame Fripp for not being able to control his stupid prisoner on his stupid ship.”

“If you hadn’t come here, we’d be just four normal girls with their horses. Or lack of horse, until you got over your fear,” said Anne.

“If Lisa hadn’t come here, we’d be dead, Anne,” said Alex, startling the two girls apart. “Lisa needed to be here to break her seal.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” said Lisa. “I didn’t ask to be the first to get my powers or the one the Generals noticed first. None of us asked for this. But now we have to deal with it.”

“So, what, I have my own dreams until some magical blue squirrel shows up and tells us we have our destinies?” asked Anne. “I wanted to be a model, but now I have this new connection with Concorde and I don’t want to leave him behind to be an international model. I don’t know what to do.”

“I’ll have to leave Starshine behind too in my band,” said Lisa.

“You don’t get it,” said Anne. “I’ve never connected to anyone the way I’ve connected to that horse. If I found out my purpose was just to travel between worlds, and I didn’t have him… I wouldn’t have any reason to keep going on.”

“Maybe that’s the whole point,” said Lisa. “I can’t take Starshine with me to perform, but I won’t be gone for long. I’ll only be gone for a few months at a time.”

“Models need to leave at the slightest notice,” said Anne. “They have very busy schedules. But you’ll have your band, like your second family that you chose. Models are all bitchy, you know that.”

“Well, you’re good at dressage, aren’t you?” asked Lisa. “Enter competitions. That way, you’ll always have Concorde with you.”

“Lisa, you’re a genius!” said Anne, and hugged her, grinning. “That’s exactly what I’ll do. Instead of an international model, I can be an international dressage competitor. It has a good ring to it.”

“I know that you’ll do great,” said Alex, grinning at her.

“Thank you, Alex,” said Anne, smiling back at her.

They left after high school. Anne and Lisa both left to pursue their dreams, and Alex was left to guard the island with only Linda to help. She learned which signs to look for, and read up on their enemies. But every day, she worried. She worried that their enemies were being too quiet. She at least expected ripples. But it was nothing. Like their enemies were doing something deeper.

And then the night came when Alex’s world was shattered. Their enemies had been plotting something. They’d been too idle, and now Anne was gone. They couldn’t fight their destiny. Two of them had tried, and now one was just… gone. Lisa would probably disappear too soon. They’d made it easy for their enemies, separating like this. And Lisa was without her horse, so she’d be weaker.

When news emerged of Lisa’s disappearance, Alex had been expecting it. She packed her bags, bid farewell to her family, and travelled to Silverglade with James and Tin Can. She’d heard rumours of dark magic being spotted in the area and druids living there, and James had heard rumours of a tourist site.

It was Alex’s fault that Lisa and Anne were gone. So now it was her job to do everything she could to fix that.


End file.
